Abstract

"Coltrane changes" can be simply expressed as altered sequences of seconds and fourths. This simple expression creates linkages between his formulation of the aforementioned chord progressions; his previous and formative experiences with Monk, and his later use of harmonies built on fourths and fifths. It is closer to what is heard on his albums through the bass line, and moves towards a hybrid descriptive/functional framework that might be more appropriate to analysing jazz of the period.

Here's the archetypal example: B A G F E♭ D♭ is a descending major second progression: if you transpose every second chord up a perfect fourth [or down a perfect fifth] you get B D G B♭ E♭ G♭, which has the same tonal constitution and harmonic progression as a "Coltrane change".

Roots and routes to the expression

Coltrane was already working extensively with seconds and fourths by the middle of 1957 when he joined Thelonious Monk's group. Listening to "Straight Street" on Coltrane (Prestige 7105) from May of that year, we can hear a pattern of functional v-I progressions descending by a major second (tonal centre shown above each bar):

44 eBm E⁷ | dAm D⁷ | cGm C⁷ | b♭Fm B♭⁷ | e♭E♭…

Although it is clear that there is a movement of descending major thirds when scanning every other measure, it should be pointed out that descriptively the harmony of each measure descends by a major second.

The implications of this experimentation are clear when examining "Moment's Notice" from the seminal Blue Train, recorded four months later. Although this is commonly cited as a song with "Coltrane changes" it actually does not contain the minor third to perfect fourth movement that is the crux(or crutch?) of the prevailing theory, but a "minor second-perfect fourth" motion pattern that descends by a major second.

aEm⁷ A⁷ | b♭Fm⁷ B♭⁷ | e♭E♭ | A♭⁷ D♭⁷
gDm⁷ G⁷ | a♭E♭m⁷ A♭⁷ | d♭d♭ | D⁷ G⁷